Lobbyists and the register of lobbyists

What is lobbying?

The Integrity (Lobbyists) Act 2016 defines 'lobbying' as communicating with a government representative for the purposes of influencing, whether directly or indirectly, State government decision making. It prohibits individuals or firms from engaging in lobbying on behalf of third parties unless they have been accepted onto the Register by the Public Sector Commissioner and thereby accredited as registered lobbyists to government.

What is the Register of Lobbyists?

The Register provides information on who is lobbying Government, and who is represented by each lobbyist. Only lobbyists who are on the Register can lobby government representatives.

The Register contains information such as:

the business registration details of the lobbyist, including the names of owners, partners and/or major shareholders;

the names of the people working as lobbyists within the business; and

the names of the clients who currently retain the lobbyist or have used the lobbyist's services over the past three months.

Lobbyists are required to update their details as they change and to confirm their details at the end of each quarter. The date that a lobbyist's details were last updated is listed on the Register.

Why do we need a Register?

Lobbyists are an important element in our democratic process. They provide advice on how to deal with Government and can help identify and facilitate meetings with key government officials.

The Register also allows government officials to know who a lobbyists represents, which can help officials to avoid conflicts of interest.